Formation of ordered structures of charged macroparticles in a photoemission trap

The possibility of confining positively charged macroscopic dust particles in a unique photoemission trap was studied. The spatial distributions of th e potentials for a cylindrical geometry of a phototrap were obtained (by th e particles in a cell method) and the dynamics of the formation of ordered structures of dust particles in the potential field of the trap was studied (by the molecular-dynamics method). The dependence of the number of dust p articles confined by a phototrap on the particle energies and sizes and the buffer-gas pressure were obtained. (C) 2000 MAIK "Nauka/Interperiodica".